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Felina Tambakos

Posted: 10-23-10

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USA Today: Music Games
SF Weekly: "A Rock Video Game Where You Play a Real Guitar
Clapton, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews Approval
Power Gig Offical Site

After all the criticism from generations past about music-themed video games' lack of (usable) musical skill, a new game was released last week. "Power Gig: Rise of the SixString" uses both the typical button-pressing as well as actual strings for a new Guitar Hero-esque game for PS3 and Xbox360. Artists including Eric Clapton and the Dave Matthews Band not only agreed to put songs in the game, but expressed their support of a game that can teach kids how to play guitar by themselves.
This is interesting for our studies of technology and the media because it seems like technology is going backwards to catch up with what already exists. I like the idea of strings on this digi-guitar, and I wonder what will come next? Maybe the next set of games will find a way to attach a real instrument to your video gaming system and teach kids and teens more instruments, like how to play Bach on their pianos/keybaords.




Cheyne Prock

Soundbeam]

[music]

Laws such as ADA( Americans with Disabilities Act) and IDEA( Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) ensure that special needs students have equal access to education. Music is education, and students with disabilities such as audio and visual processing have been mainstreamed into music classrooms, the least restrictive environment. A good approach to music education is a multi-sensory approach of visual and kinesthetic modes of learning. Assistive devices must have an impact on the functioning of the child with a disability.Devices range from high-tech computer technology to low-tech devices like bells and bongos. A high-tech device is called the "Soundbeam" and enables students with severe cognitive and/or motor skills to participate in music making. Soundbeam is an award winning device which uses sensor technology to translate body movement into digitally generated sound and image. A mid level device would be something that the WII has. The device is called" Wii music" which was made for the learning disabled community only. I believe that technologies like Wii music other assistive devices will only get better and will make a difference in how people learn in and out of the classroom.





David Chmura

10-27-10

Stemming from the #3 update I wanted to explore how some artists integrate subliminal messages into their music. And further, how does the music industry deal with this or do they even know. I found some good examples on this video and most of them seem harmless and kind-of humorous but there are definitely some very odd and creepy things that people place into their songs.

One of the landmark cases that exist originate from an incident in Sparks, Nevada where James Vance and his friend agreed to commit suicide after "being influenced" by Judas Priest

"I believe that alcohol and heavy metal music, such as Judas Priest, led us or even 'mesmerized' us into believing that the answer to 'life was death,'" James wrote to his best friend's mother in 1986, quoting some of the album's lyrics."

CBS Records and Judas Priest were sued on 1st Amendment rights and the ruling declared that subliminal messages are not covered under the 1st Amendment freedoms.

Here is the link to the article and also a subliminal message in question.





Cameron Nash

Posted: October 27, 2010

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LimeWire goes down, but where do its users go?
It's over. The popular file-sharing network, better known as LimeWire, has been officially shut down after five months of talks with record companies, in court no less, about 10 years worth of copyright infringements and illegal downloading provided by the company. A federal judge has ordered that the company shut down its services, but in the end neither the record companies nor the executives of LimeWire received what it sought after when the talks began. LimeWire was hoping to gain whatever licensing was necessary to launch an legitimate, authorized music service to the consumers that consistently downloaded free music via their service. On the other hand, record companies wanted LimeWire to have to pay for the damages they've cost based on all of the copyright infringements of the past 10 years that the company has been "active." I think this is an important win for the record companies, but a loss for the consumer. The longer the record companies fight to shut down file-sharing networks the more they gain back a bigger piece of the dying music industry. Although, there will always be loopholes & other file-sharing networks trying to gain prominence, like LimeWire & Napster, it's important to at least limit the amount of major networks that affect musical downloads. We'll see how the rest of the story plays out.

Allison Trygar October 27, 2010 Interactive Music Video

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A new "Pick your own adventure" music video has hit the popular Vevo website to help an upcoming singer and songwriter Andy Grammer pick the final product to his first music video. Viewers are prompted to pick alternate segments to the video to create their own video out of the three given options. Grammer's record label S-Curve says that Grammer will pick the most popular choices and use them to make the final music video. S-Curve says they picked this option for the new pop artist to help get the artists name out to the music world. This new style of music video reminded me of the lecture on Monday in regards to interactivity and giving the audience the ability to control their media experience. With giving viewers the viewers the ability to pick which video options they like the most, the viewer is able to enjoy the video in a different way by making it a more personal experience.